Passage

Numbers 23.19

Book: Numbers · NASB95 (primary) / ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19, NASB95)

Spoken through the unwilling prophet Balaam during the second of his four oracles over Israel on the plains of Moab. Balak the king of Moab has hired Balaam to curse Israel; Balaam can only bless. The verse is the most-cited Old Testament text for the doctrine of divine constancy: God does not waver, deceive, or revise. What he has said, he will perform.

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"17. And he came to him, and, lo, he was standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath Jehovah spoken? 18. And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:"

"19. God is not a man, that he should lie, Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and will he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and will he not make it good?"

"20. Behold, I have received commandment to bless: And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it. 21. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob; Neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: Jehovah his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them." (Numbers 23:17-21, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"17. He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, “What has Yahweh spoken?” 18. He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor."

"19. God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?"

"20. Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can’t reverse it. 21. He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them." (Numbers 23:17-21, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"17. And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken? 18. And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:"

"19. God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"

"20. Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. 21. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them." (Numbers 23:17-21, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"17. And he cometh unto him, and lo, he is standing by his burnt-offering, and the princes of Moab with him, and Balak saith to him: 'What hath Jehovah spoken?' 18. And he taketh up his simile, and saith: 'Rise, Balak, and hear; Give ear unto me, son of Zippor!"

"19. God [is] not a man, and lieth, And a son of man, and repenteth! Hath He said, and doth He not do [it]? And spoken, and doth He not confirm it?"

"20. Lo, to bless I have received: Yea, He blesseth, and I [can] not reverse it. 21. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, Nor hath He seen perverseness in Israel; Jehovah his God [is] with him, And a shout of a king [is] in him." (Numbers 23:17-21, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Balaam son of Beor, Mesopotamian seer hired by King Balak of Moab; the oracle is spoken by Balaam but its content is given by Yahweh
Audience: Balak of Moab and his princes, immediately; Israel reading the text canonically
Location: the plains of Moab, on the high places of Baal overlooking Israel's camp
Time period: events c. 1406 BC (end of wilderness wanderings, just prior to Israel's entry into Canaan)

Theological reading

The verse is structured as a four-part declaration of divine constancy. First negative pair: God is not a man so as to lie; God is not a son of man so as to relent. Second positive pair: what God has said, he does; what God has spoken, he makes good. The form denies two human modes of falsity (deception and revision) and affirms two divine modes of fidelity (action and confirmation).

The rhetorical point in context is sharp. Balak has been trying to manipulate the outcome, different mountain, different altar, more sacrifices, operating on a pagan assumption that the gods can be worked, that prophecy is plastic, that divine intent can be purchased. Balaam's oracle refuses the assumption at its root. Yahweh is not that kind of God. The blessing he has spoken over Israel cannot be reversed because Yahweh is not the kind of being who reverses.

The classical doctrine of divine immutability draws much of its biblical weight from this verse paired with Malachi 3.6 ("I, the LORD, do not change") and James 1.17 ("with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow"). The fathers and the medievals read these texts together as establishing that God's nature, will, and word are not subject to change in the way creaturely natures are. This was foundational to the doctrine of divine simplicity and to confidence in divine promises.

The "God's relenting" texts (Exodus 32:14; Jonah 3:10; 1 Samuel 15:11, 35) raise the question of compatibility. The classical resolution: God's "relenting" describes the changing relation between God's fixed character and changing human circumstances, not a change in God himself. Balaam's denial of "repenting" addresses the kind of vacillation a finite creature does in the face of pressure; God does not vacillate in that creaturely way.

Apologetic significance

Numbers 23:19 is a primary text for several apologetic moves:

Divine constancy. Against process theology, open theism, and popular caricatures that read God as a changeable, mood-driven agent.
Reliability of promises. Christian assurance rests on the premise that what God has said, he will do. Numbers 23:19 is the canonical guarantor.
The "relenting" objection. Atheist polemicists cite the several "God repented" texts as contradictions with this verse. The standard response distinguishes anthropomorphic descriptions of relational change from metaphysical change in the divine nature; see God's Relenting vs. Change.
Pagan-deity contrast. The verse explicitly contrasts Yahweh with the kind of deities Balak presupposes, manipulable, bribable, capricious. This is part of the OT's polemic against Ancient Near Eastern religion.

Key words

H0410 - el, el (H410). The generic divine name used here in the absolute opening "God is not...".
H0120 - adam, adam (H120). "Man" in the human-creature sense; the term Balaam denies of God.
H1121 - ben, ben (H1121). "Son of"; pairs with adam in the Semitic parallelism.
H6213 - asah, asah (H6213). "To do, make"; the verb of divine performance ("will he not do it?").
H4191 - mut, mut, death-language hub also linked.

Theological themes

Divine immutability. God does not change in nature, will, or word.
Divine veracity. God does not lie; truth is constitutive of the divine character.
Divine faithfulness. What God has spoken, he performs; promises are guaranteed by the divine nature itself.
Anti-anthropomorphism. God is categorically not a man, even where scripture uses human language to speak of him.

Cross-references

Malachi 3.6, "I, the LORD, do not change"; the OT companion text for divine immutability.
James 1.17, "no variation or shifting shadow"; the NT formulation, often paired with Malachi 3:6 and Numbers 23:19.
Hebrews 13.8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever"; christological extension.
Hebrews 6.18, "it is impossible for God to lie"; hermeneutical key for divine veracity.
1 Samuel 15.29, "the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind"; near-verbatim restatement.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.